Books • Weekend
A swansong for the millennium has just been written and none too soon; or rather, an evensong for late capitalism’s annihilation. The unlikely form for this enthusiastic apocalyptic message is poetry and, against all expectations, given the usual banality of so much politically charged literature of recent memory, it succeeds powerfully. Joshua Clover’s Red Epic is an epic of fiery vision and uncommonly strident radical critique out of keeping with comparable voices of discontent. If you are disgusted by current global conditions and drawn to intelligent work densely layered with surprising juxtapositions of historical reference, statement and prophecy, then you will find Red Epic revelatory. You will also probably wish to abide some of its more extreme commands or be convinced of their theoretical worthiness—as when one poem implores the reader to “seize the fucking banks.”
Few poets directly engage our dire political and cultural realities, and fewer still do so consistently or effectively (Julie Carr’s 2010 collection 100 Notes on Violence is a shining exception, Juliana Spahr’s work is another). So be it: I am all for poetry free of political agendas but I also respect those artists who present empirical evidence of our debased political culture as well as the organizations that perpetuate international injustice. Moreover, I am impressed by those poets who don’t necessarily align themselves with a specific leftist tradition, yet are not reluctant to explore and espouse certain critical elements of many leftist traditions, including those vilified in popular generalizations. Going further, I appreciate the poem-as-manifesto that incorporates both declamatory outburst and nuanced conceptual takes; that also possess a sense of wicked humor as well as an air of moral indignation. Clover fulfills all these demanding criteria and it is refreshing to see...
Mediators! Matadors!: Joshua Clover’s ‘Red Epic’
(Courtesy Commune Editions)
Few poets directly engage our dire political and cultural realities, and fewer still do so consistently or effectively (Julie Carr’s 2010 collection 100 Notes on Violence is a shining exception, Juliana Spahr’s work is another). So be it: I am all for poetry free of political agendas but I also respect those artists who present empirical evidence of our debased political culture as well as the organizations that perpetuate international injustice. Moreover, I am impressed by those poets who don’t necessarily align themselves with a specific leftist tradition, yet are not reluctant to explore and espouse certain critical elements of many leftist traditions, including those vilified in popular generalizations. Going further, I appreciate the poem-as-manifesto that incorporates both declamatory outburst and nuanced conceptual takes; that also possess a sense of wicked humor as well as an air of moral indignation. Clover fulfills all these demanding criteria and it is refreshing to see...
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